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9:00The TakeawayTMThe Takeaway is a national morning news program that invites listeners to be part of the American conversation. Hosts John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee, along with partners The New York Times, BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston, deliver news and analysis and help you prepare for the day ahead.

Monday, March 31, 2014Comment period ends for Army Corps Asian carp planIt's now up to Congress to decide how to direct efforts to prevent invasive carp from getting through Chicago waterways into Great Lakesby WKSU's JEFF ST. CLAIR

Reporter / HostJeff St. Clair

Invasive Asian carp jump out of the Illinois River. Two species of the voracious fish infest the Mississippi River system and threaten the Great Lakes.

The Army Corps logged nearly 16 hours of public testimony from 11 public meetings this winter across the Midwest, including a January meeting in Cleveland.

The Corps laid out eight options to stop the onslaught of Asian carp, ranging from so-called nonstructural controls like nets, chemical and electric barriers, to the most popular plan, an $18 billion complete separation of the Chicago waterways from the Great Lakes.

At the Cleveland meeting project manager Dave Wethington told me that while the Army Corps can begin installing the nonstructural controls, they won’t go further without a mandate from Congress.

Wehtington says, “The final decision to move forward with constructing a new alternative would have to be authorized by Congress. We have an existing authority to study one of these potential alternatives, but as a matter of policy our agency is really seeking that consensus from our stakeholders.”

While environmental groups, and fishermen prefer placing physical barriers in the water, shipping interests have a vested interest in keeping the Chicago channels open.

Once a solution is hammered out, construction could begin in 2017 and take an estimated 25 years to complete.